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Re: be in charge of an exam

"Take" also works if it's understood that we are talking about the person who is giving it. - "No wonder. It was Mrs Smith who took/gave the exam. She was being especially strict that day. Nobody got an A!"
These are correct and unambiguous in my dialect.

But I agree with "administer" as being the most specific and descriptive.

Re: be in charge of an exam

Originally Posted by J&K Tutoring

Whoa! Maybe things are radically different in the UK, but where I come from one cannot both giveandtake an exam. It's definitely an either/or proposition!

They may be - I can't speak for the UK.
It does sound strange if you want to conceptualise it as giving and taking the same thing at the same time; but I was suggesting that either one or the other term could be used to describe the process of adminstering the exam, not both at once.
You'll note that I qualified my statement with "if it's understood that we are talking about the person who is giving it."

This is similar to being able to ask about teachers, "Who is giving the class today?" and "Who is taking the class today?" - meaning the same thing.
I accept that it might not be possible to do this in the US.

Re: be in charge of an exam

Thanks for the replies!
What about a driving test (the road part)? I don't know if the procedure in English-speaking countries is the same, but in the RF there's an examiner (a traffic police officer ususally) sitting next to you and assessing your driving ability for some time before he decides whether you have passed or failed. Are the words 'give' and 'administer' still applicable here?